Housing and Urban Development in the USSR

Housing and Urban Development in the USSR
Author: Gregory D. Andrusz
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 384
Release: 1985-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0791494977

This study of housing and the urban environment in a socialist society sheds light on the discrepancy between plan and reality. It investigates the sources and consequences of the problem and shows how the U.S.S.R. has attempted to find solutions. Following a general background and overview section, the book deals with the construction, control, and use of buildings in Soviet cities. It then investigates the types of housing considered to be most appropriate for today's Russian urbanite. Focusing on housing sites, it shows the reality of the housing situation in the U.S.S.R. and uncovers spatial patterns of social segregation in Soviet urban development. The question of high- and low-rise housing for workers is also discussed. Andrusz shows how today's Soviet society has evolved away from certain patterns created by the architects of the Revolution. New norms, values, and demands—particularly in the visible form of a more privatized lifestyle: the consumer-oriented, car-ownership-seeking, nuclear family with segregated role playing—have resulted in new dwelling needs. The book is enriched with tables, notes and references, and a useful bibliography.

Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries

Housing Estates in the Baltic Countries
Author: Daniel Baldwin Hess
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2019-08-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030233928

This open access book focuses on the formation and later socio-spatial trajectories of large housing estates in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also explores claims that a distinctly “westward-looking orientation” in their design produced housing estates that were superior in design to those produced elsewhere in the Soviet Union (between 1944 and 1991, Estonia was a member republic of the USSR). The first two parts of the book provide contextual material to help readers understand the vision behind housing estates in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These sections present the background of housing estates in the Baltic Republics as well as challenges and debates concerning their formation, evolution, and present condition and importance. Subsequent parts of the book consist of: demographic analyses of the socioeconomic characteristics and ethnicity of housing estate residents (past and present) in the three Baltic capital cities, case studies of people and places related to housing estates in the Baltic countries, and chapters exploring relevant special topics and themes. This book will be of interest to students, scholars, and advocates interested in understanding the past, present, and future importance of housing estates in the Baltic countries.